Heavily publicised over the last few years is the growing phenomenon of the "Hacker", the dedicated key-plonker who, through a vicious sense of humour or sheer bloody-mindedness, has been dreaming up new and interesting things to do with lorry-loads of Coca-Cola, bank accounts and Big Ron's favourite nuclear warhead.

More recently, in this country, we have seen the re-adjustment of the pound to a sensible, albeit incorrect, level and the headlong nosedive into the Royal love-letters in the private parts of Prestel. Overall, considering the popularity of these activities, I find it surprising that a game of this nature has not been seen before.

System 15000 is a telephone communications simulation, with a built-in plot to keep the interest and adrenalin on the move. A friend has been ripped off to the tune of 1.5 million by a company called Realco. Another friend, Mike, has been investigating but Realco has heavy Mafia connections and the man with the violin case and zoot suit is looking to examine the inside of his head with a meat cleaver. Knowing a good friend and complete idiot when he sees one, he dumps the whole lot in your lap, graps a number nine yak and heads for the safety of the Tibetan monastic community. On your head now lies the responsibility of finding the bucks and putting them back in the right place.

Information is minimal. A telephone number, entry code and occasional hints from an interested party are all you get and using this, you have to find and gain access to the relevant systems. Doing this within a week is unlikely. I spent two days discovering that it is hard and lots of fun, but little else - certainly the only computer simulation I've played that bears any resemblance to the real thing.

Dialling is done from the keyboard, to the sound of dialling or engaged tones, and the System 15000 software automatically detects incoming messages. If the telephone company notices something and starts poking around, lines are automatically cut.

A nice game - even if it does take hours to load - safer than the real thing, lighter on the pocket and, if planting Pershings in the Kremlin is your style, very good practice for the real thing.